A naval flight officer (NFO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots (naval aviators) per se, but they may perform many "co-pilot" functions, depending on the type of aircraft. Until 1966, their duties were performed by both commissioned officer and senior enlisted naval aviation observers (NAO).

In 1966, enlisted personnel were removed from naval aviation observer duties but continued to serve in enlisted aircrew roles, while NAO officers received the newly established NFO designation, and the NFO insignia was introduced.[1] NFOs in the US Navy all begin their careers as unrestricted line officers (URL), eligible for command at sea and ashore in the various naval aviation aircraft type/model/series (T/M/S) communities. They are also eligible for promotion to senior flag rank positions, including command of aircraft carrier strike groups, expeditionary strike groups, joint task forces, numbered fleets, naval component commands and unified combatant commands.

A small number of US Navy NFOs have later opted for a lateral transfer to the restricted line (RL) as aeronautical engineering duty officers (AEDO), while continuing to retain their NFO designation and active flight status. Such officers are typically graduates of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and/or the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School with advanced academic degrees in aerospace engineering or similar disciplines. AEDO/NFOs are eligible to command test and evaluation squadrons, naval air test centers, naval air warfare centers, and hold major program management responsibilities within the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR). Similarly, Marine Corps NFOs are also considered eligible for command at sea and ashore within Marine aviation, and are also eligible to hold senior general officer positions, such as command of Marine aircraft wings, joint task forces, Marine expeditionary forces, Marine Corps component commands and unified combatant commands.

The United States Coast Guard had a short-lived NFO community in the 1980s and 1990s when it temporarily operated E-2C Hawkeye aircraft on loan from the Navy. Following a fatal mishap with one of these aircraft at the former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, the Coast Guard returned the remaining E-2Cs to the Navy and disestablished its NFO program.[2]

Training for NFOs starts out the same as for naval aviators. Both students go through introductory flight screening and aviation preflight indoctrination together before splitting off into their respective primary training squadrons.

SNFOs train under the Undergraduate Military Flight Officer (UMFO) program at Training Wing 6 at NAS Pensacola, alongside foreign students from allied navies and air forces. All students begin primary training at VT-10, eventually moving on to advanced training at VT-86 or VT-4. Upon graduation from their respective advanced squadron, students receive their "wings of gold" and are designated naval flight officers. After winging, students conduct follow-on training at their respective fleet replacement squadron.

All SNFOs and SNAs start their aviation training with introductory flight screening (IFS). IFS consists of 2 phases: ground school and flight training. The ground school portion lasts about two weeks and culminates with the student completing the FAA private pilot exam. Afterwards, every student enrolls in one of several civilian flight schools located near NAS Pensacola. Students complete approximately 14 hours of flight training in a single engine aircraft, including a solo flight. IFS is normally waived for students entering training with a private pilot license.

SNFOs will train with Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard SNAs along with NATO and allied students in the SNA and SNFO tracks, and, periodically, with student naval flight surgeons. Aviation preflight indoctrination (API) consists of academic instruction, hands-on interaction and aviation physiology, water survival, and land survival skills.

After graduating from Primary 1, SNFOs will select between maritime land-based aviation or tailhook carrier aviation.[Note 1] Students selected for land-based platforms will continue on to the advanced maritime command and control curriculum at VT-4. Those that select carrier aviation will continue to Primary 2 training and remain at VT-10.

After primary, students who have selected E-2s or land-based maritime aviation (P-3, P-8, EP-3, E-6) check into VT-4 for advanced maritime command and control (MC2) training. The MC2 program was developed to allow SNFOs to receive advanced platform-specific training while still at NAS Pensacola, and to receive their wings before progressing to their respective fleet replacement squadron (FRS) for training in their ultimate operational combat aircraft. All MC2 training is conducted in the Multi-Crew Simulator (MCS), a new simulator system that allows students to train independently, as a single-ship crew, or as a multi-ship mission. MC2 training has two phases: Core and strand.

SNFOs begin MC2 training in the "core" syllabus. These classes include a combination of SNFOs who are E-2C/D selectees and land-based maritime selectees. Training in this phase builds upon the instrument training from Primary and includes:

Strand training is platform-specific training via the MCS, allowing SNFOs to begin learning their responsibilities on their fleet aircraft. The development of this program relieves the FRSs from teaching SNFOs the basics of naval aviation and to focus more on advanced fleet tactics, thus providing the fleet with mission-capable NFOs. Upon completion of strand training, students receive their "wings of gold" and are aeronautically designated as naval flight officers.

SNFOs progress through one or two of 4 strands, depending on what platform they select:

Naval flight officers operate some of the advanced systems on board most multi-crew naval aircraft, and some may also act as the overall tactical mission commanders of single or multiple aircraft assets during a given mission. NFOs are not formally trained to pilot the aircraft, although they do train in some dual-control aircraft and are given the opportunity to practice basic airmanship techniques. Some current and recently retired naval aircraft with side-by-side seating are also authorized to operate under dual-piloted weather minimums with one pilot and one NFO. However, in the unlikely event that the pilot of a single piloted naval aircraft becomes incapacitated, the crew would likely eject or bail out, if possible, as NFOs are not normally qualified to land the aircraft, especially in the carrier-based shipboard environment.

NFOs serve as weapon systems officers (WSOs), electronic warfare officers (EWO), electronic countermeasures officers (ECMO), tactical coordinators (TACCO), bombardiers, and navigators. They can serve as aircraft mission commanders, although in accordance with the OPNAVINST 3710 series of instructions, the pilot in command, regardless of rank, is always responsible for the safe piloting of the aircraft. Many NFOs achieve flight/section lead, division lead, package lead, mission lead and mission commander qualification, even when the pilot of the aircraft does not have that designation. Often, a senior NFO is paired with a junior pilot (and vice versa). NFO astronauts have also flown aboard the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station as mission specialists and wear NFO-astronaut wings.

Vice Admiral Walter E. “Ted” Carter Jr. became the 62nd superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy on July 23, 2014. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1981, was designated a Naval Flight Officer in 1982, and graduated from the Navy Fighter Weapons School, Top Gun, in 1985. Carter’s career as an aviator includes extensive time at sea, deploying around the globe in the F-4 Phantom II and the F-14 Tomcat. He has landed on 19 different aircraft carriers, to include all 10 of the Nimitz Class carriers. Carter flew 125 combat missions in support of joint operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. He accumulated 6,150 flight hours in F-4, F-14, and F-18 aircraft during his career and safely completed 2,016 carrier-arrested landings, the record among all active and retired U.S. Naval Aviation designators.[4]

In the EA-6B Prowler NFOs are designated as electronic countermeasures officers (ECMOs) and may also be mission commanders. In the EA-18G Growler NFOs are designated as electronic warfare officers (EWOs) and may also be mission commanders.

In the E-2C Hawkeye and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, NFOs are initially as designated radar officers (RO), then upgrade to air control officers (ACO) and finally to combat information center officers (CICO) and CICO/mission commanders (CICO/MC).

In the E-6B Mercury, NFOs are initially designated as airborne communications officers (ACOs), then upgrade to combat systems officers (CSOs), and finally to mission commanders (CSO/MC).

In the EP-3E Aries, NFOs are initially designated as navigators (NAV) and eventually upgrade to electronic warfare officer/signals evaluator (EWO SEVAL) and EWO/SEVAL/mission commander (SEVAL/MC).

In the F/A-18F Super Hornet and F/A-18D Hornet, the NFO position is known as the weapons systems officer (WSO) and may also be mission commander qualified.

In the P-3C Orion and P-8A Poseidon, the NFO is initially designated as a navigator/communicator (NAV/COM) and eventually upgrades to tactical coordinator TACCO and then TACCO/mission commander (TACCO/MC). NFOs also serve as instructors/mission commanders in current versions of the T-39 Sabreliner and USAFT-1A Jayhawk.

A single USN or USMC NFO is assigned to the United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, the Blue Angels, as "Blue Angel #8", the Events Coordinator. This is an operational flying billet for this officer and he or she flies the twin-seat F/A-18D "Blue Angel 7" aircraft with the team's advance pilot/narrator. They function as the advance liaison (ADVON) at all air show sites and the events coordinator provides backup support to the narrator during all aerial demonstrations.

In all, the specific roles filled by an NFO can vary greatly depending on the type of aircraft to which an NFO is assigned.